Crazy catch!

[LuckyFisher]

I was trolling for trout at Clear Lake and got one on. But when I brought it closer to the boat something didn't look quite right. It took a moment, but then I realized that my lure didn't actually hook the fish - it hooked the end of a piece of line that was hooked to a fish!!! It is hard to tell from the pic, but I am holding my Rapala lure that is hooked to a foot or so of line attached to a small hook inside the fish's mouth. Crazy!!!!

I released the fish, but would it have been technically legal for me to keep it?

 

[eugene1]

Pretty cool and rare!

 

[C_Run]

I got a crab like that last year at the coast, all wrapped up in a wad of line. I let it go but got a nice Blue Fox spinner out of the deal.

 

[grampa ron]

I caught a 12# Chinook at Dexter by catching the swivel that was hanging from a Steely lure in it's mouth.

 

[rogerdodger]

I was trolling for trout at Clear Lake and got one on. But when I brought it closer to the boat something didn't look quite right. It took a moment, but then I realized that my lure didn't actually hook the fish - it hooked the end of a piece of line that was hooked to a fish!!! It is hard to tell from the pic, but I am holding my Rapala lure that is hooked to a foot or so of line attached to a small hook inside the fish's mouth. Crazy!!!!

I released the fish, but would it have been technically legal for me to keep it?

I believe you could have retained it since it was hooked inside the mouth which is the criteria for retaining game fish... unless your Rapala had 3 hooks on it, since adding the one in it's mouth would have put you over the 3 hook maximum per line...

 

[sapo]

This sounds really dumb, but what is "Dexter" grandpa ron? Like Dexter reservoir? I've heard people talk about it like it has combat salmon fishing, but I don't know exactly what it is haha

 

[hobster]

Dexter is a resevoir but people usually are refering to just under the dam where the combat fishing is.

Cool stories! I once hooked a spinner at the swivel and got a free spinner, but no fish on the other end.

 

[DrTheopolis]

I caught a spinner without a fish on it. But it was a very recognizable homemade one that I had lost 2 years earlier.